Ball State University Athletics
Men?s Golf Eighth with One Round Left at Northern
September 07, 2014 | Men's Golf
SUGAR GROVE, Ill. -- Conditions got tougher and the scores went up Saturday in the second round of the Northern Intercollegiate.
The Ball State men's golf team put together a score of 311 and moved from a tie for fourth place into a tie for eighth with one round to play. The Cardinals own a two-day total of 605 (+29).
Winthrop continues to lead at 587 (+11), while Purdue is four shots back in second and Virginia and Houston are six shots back in a tie for third.
The wind blew hard Saturday out of the North, and the greens became firmer and faster at the challenging Rich Harvest Farms course.
Despite the conditions, James Blackwell had a bounce-back round to lead Ball State with a 3-over par score of 75. McCormick Clouser carded a 76, followed by Zach Yinger with a 78. Freshmen Michael Makris and Johnny Watts both shot 82.
Yinger was in contention on the individual leaderboard at 1-under par for the day and for the tournament until a tough closing stretch. The final six holes proved challenging for the entire field, though.
Clouser is the top Ball State player individually in a tie for ninth place at 4-over par with a two-round total of 148. Yinger is two shots behind him in 25th place.
Ball State will begin Sunday's final round looking to make a move up the leaderboard. The Cardinals are three shots out of seventh place and eight shots out of sixth. Live scoring is available at birdiefire.com.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's golf, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateMGolf and @mikefleck on Twitter.
